The Committee on Engaged Learning is pleased to announce $50,357 in Odyssey funding to 12 projects which will allow Hendrix students to study topics ranging from cowboy culture in the American southwest to cemeteries in New York City, participate in a conference for women in physics and a contest in mathematical modeling, explore vocational development opportunities from gubernatorial campaigns to international medicine, and more! Since 2005, the Committee on Engaged Learning has awarded $4,616,297.71 in competitive Odyssey grants to support 1,446 projects by Hendrix students and faculty.
Global Awareness Projects
Grace Bryant
The Exploration of Different Cultures and Medicine in Merida, Spain
Supervised by J.D. Gantz
Through an Atlantis pre-med shadowing study abroad program, Grace Bryant will spend two weeks in Spain immersing herself in Spanish medicine, language, and culture. Grace is particularly interested in observing the impact of Spain’s universal healthcare system on health disparities compared to the private healthcare systems in the United States.
Emilie Cassar & Kyle Bounds
Exploring Cultural and Environmental Differences in Emergency Medicine in Costa Rica
Supervised by Irmina Fabricio
Emilie Cassar and Kyle Bounds will explore the intersection of culture and medicine through a course on Emergency Medicine and Wilderness in Costa Rica. Emilie and Kyle, who are both involved in emergency medicine in the US, will learn about how the environment influences emergency medical intervention and how cultural differences influence patient interactions.
Sophie O’Reilly & Ben Blankenship
Writing Under the Mother Tree: Creative Writing, Ecology, and Scotland
Supervised by Anne Goldberg
Sophie O’Reilly and Ben Blankenship will participate in workshops led by renowned folklore and writing specialists, receive individual writing critiques, and attend storytelling sessions as part of the Badenoch: Storylands Sessions in Edinburgh, Scotland. As scientists, Sophie and Ben will study the ways their given disciplines interact and influence Scottish folklore and use the skills and knowledge gleaned from the trip to write a collection of creative work that captures both the natural and supernatural landscape of Scotland to be submitted for private publication.
Elise Ormonde & Rachel McGhee
Ecuador: Buen Vivir
Supervised by Lilian Contreras-Silva
Elise Ormonde and Rachel McGhee will investigate the Ecuadorian ideology of Buen Vivir, the interconnected wellbeing of people and their environment. A value so important that it is constitutionally recognized, Elise and Rachel will explore the concept from cultural, economic, and environmental standpoints.
Katie Pratt, Tristan Becker Hoerschelmann, & Shelby Burrow
Tenderfootin' Out West: Exploring Cowboy Cultures Past and Present in the American Southwest
Supervised by Anne Goldberg
Katie Pratt, Tristan Becker Hoerschelmann, and Shelby Burrow will immerse themselves in Western Black, Indigenous, and cowboy cultures in a journey through five states in the American Southwest. By visiting museums, parks, nature preserves, monuments, and historic cities, the group will investigate what it means to be a cowboy--both today and historically--and how a diversity of racial and ethnic groups fit into cowboy culture.
Professional & Leadership Development Project
Jayla King
Intern: Campaign Fellow for Dr. Chris Jones, Arkansas Gubernatorial Race
Supervised by Delphia Shanks & Tricia Burris
Through the spring of 2022, Jayla King will serve as a Campaign Fellow for Dr. Chris Jones, a candidate in the Arkansas 2022 Gubernatorial Race. In this role, Jayla will gain a deeper understanding of how campaigns work and improve team communication skills as she helps with implementing all aspects of the campaign strategy, including events, press and voter outreach, social media, and campaign research.
Service to the World Projects
Mohannad Al-Hindi & Joseph Lara
Impact of Natural Disasters on Ecotourism in Puerto Rico
Supervised by J.D. Gantz
Mohannad Al-Hindi and Joseph Lara will dedicate one week to exploring the impact of natural disasters on the ecotourism economy in Puerto Rico. Mohannad and Joseph will interview community members, talk to hurricane relief and ecotourism experts, visit ecotourism sites, and volunteer with hurricane relief organizations.
Ellen Alston
Building Bridges through Service-Learning: A Service to the World Project in Puerto Rico
On this Miller Center Service-Learning Trip, participants will work alongside community members to assist with rebuilding homes destroyed by Hurricane Maria in 2017. In addition to a greater understanding of the complexities of disaster recovery, group members will gain an appreciation of the rich culture and heritage of Puerto Rico and develop a deeper sense of their own vocational journey.
Maxine Payne
Transforming the current art complex garden into a beneficial, native pollinating garden
This project will transform a small garden in the Art Complex yard into a beneficial pollinating garden featuring native plants. The garden effort will foster a sense of community with the natural environment on campus, raise public awareness of native plants and the benefits of pollinators, and address the issue of climate change on a small, local, and feasible scale while offering the campus community a beautiful, natural space to learn, rest, and reflect.
Special Projects
Robin Salinger
An Exploration of the American Cemetery
Supervised by Alex Veselka-Bush
Through visits to nine cemeteries in New York City, Robin Salinger will further their interdisciplinary research on death culture in the US. In this project, Robin aims to learn more about symbolism and aesthetics in American death culture, to learn how perceptions of death have shifted within America over time, and to gain a more holistic view of the history of death in America.
Mark Goadrich
Solving Real-world Problems with Tools from Mathematics and Computer Science: The COMAP International Contest in Mathematical Modeling
Three teams of three Hendrix students each will participate in a remote contest to tackle real–world mathematical modeling problems. Each team will spend 96 hours over the course of a weekend researching, developing, and evaluating mathematical and computational models culminating in the submission of a final report which is typically around ten pages and includes the technical details of the team’s proposed solution, supporting figures, diagrams, and equations, and a layperson explanation in the form of a news article or stakeholder report which is then evaluated by contest judges who are academicians and industry professionals.
Ann Wright
2022 Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics
Dr. Ann Wright and six physics students will attend the 2022 Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP) in January 2022 at Tulane University. The goal of the conference is to encourage undergraduate women to pursue careers in physics by giving them the experience of a professional conference, information about graduate school and professions in physics, and access to women in physics of all ages with whom they can share experiences, advice, and ideas.